HIDDEN COSTS Export financing can pay for itself in countries where the export climate is favorable. In some countries such as China, where the economics currently work against U.S. exporters. U.S. exporters are at a disadvantage.

Red Rock Biofuels is now contracted with FedEx to supply three million gallons of biofuel a year. This will be blended to provide seven million gallons of alternative jet fuel annually between 2017 and 2024. At least 48 million gallons of biofuel will be produced under the agreement.

The pioneering collaboration will see Red Rock’s low-carbon biofuel power planes based at the FedEx Express Oakland hub, with the wood waste supplied by a sawmill company in Oregon that sustainably manages a 100,000-acre forest.

“As a heavy user of fossil fuels, we know how important it is to reduce our consumption and make trade-related energy more sustainable,” said FedEx CEO Frederick Smith. “Reducing reliance on oil lessens the market volatility that slows growth.”

Red Rock Biofuels converts scrap and forest waste to make fuel. “Innovations like this have the potential to help farmers and communities around the world turn waste into a new form of clean energy,” said Smith. “Helping others replicate a waste-to-biofuel model could create sustainable local industries and new jobs near airports around the world.”

“FedEx is saying to airlines and the financial sector that this is the future of aviation fuel,” said Red Rock chief executive Terry Kulesa. “We hope to build about 10 more plants in the next few years.”